The Meanings of Christmas

Christmas has many meanings depending on your beliefs. It is first and foremost, the representation of the birth of Christianity.For many of us, it is a time of kindess, generosity and philanthropy as a way of showing to others that we appreciate the creature comforts that we have in our lives.

On Christmas Eve morning, I treated a young man who broke his front tooth in a basketball game the previous night. My completed restoration perfectly matched the young man's adjacent tooth and it was indistinguishable from his natural teeth. As I completed my work, I told the young man that there would be no charge for me to fix his tooth but that I would appreciate it if his parents would make a contribution to Smile Train so that a young child could have his cleft lip repaired and feel normal again.

This young man is my office manager's nephew and I received the following email this evening:

"Thank you so much for restoring Patrick's tooth. His parents really
appreciated it. It was the talk of the holiday . They were impressed by
your kindness."

This is what it is all about. Doing for others to acknowledge what has been given to us.